There have been reports in the Pakistani media that several Indian nationals have been arrested over the last two days in Lahore and Multan, and are being accused of being terrorists. Since it has also been reported in the Pakistani media yesterday that the senior police officer in Lahore was unaware of the arrest in his city, it seems that this is the work of other agencies in Pakistan that operate outside the law and civilian control. Indian citizens are therefore advised that it would be unsafe for them to travel or be in Pakistan: Ministry of External Affairs

The issue that dominates the peace process pursued by the Indian and Pakistani governments on Kashmir since 2004 is about the control of the Siachen Glacier in the region, the world’s highest battlefield. Although a ceasefire has been in place since 2003, thousands of troops on both sides continue to eyeball each other across the extreme terrain.

The Indian army is abundant with stories of the peculiar demands Generals present to aides, junior officers et al. These stories usually come out and are exchanged during the Commanders’ Conferences, when all the brasshats get together in Delhi and the junior/middle-rung officers at Delhi Cantonment are left bemused at the requests(orders) they have to accommodate.

With tensions between India and Pakistan showing no signs of receding sources say there is increasing speculation that Pakistan and the UK may be considering the idea of extraditing certain individuals to the UK to satisfy India’s immediate concerns.

While the Indian Navy has every right to arrest pirates anywhere on the high seas, the problem of what to do with them is one that many countries have been struggling with since the upsurge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

There are more than fifteen good reasons for the confusion that has been India’s maritime security structure. In addition to the Navy and the Coast Guard, that is the number of departments that have a role to play in maritime security and virtually no two agencies, except for the Navy and Coast Guard actually actively coordinate with each other.

“This is the first time that Israeli targets have been attacked in the broader conflict against militant Islam in the India-Pakistan context. One immediate conclusion that Israel needs to draw is that its interests in the region are now targets for the terrorists and have to be better protected. Just like against the attacks of Black September in Europe in the 1970s. That’s at a tactical level. At a strategic level we have be aware that we may be dragged into India’s conflict with militant Islam.”

Even though the international media came out in sympathy for India, there were growing rumbles that this could have been prevented, that India has shot itself in the foot by not dealing with terrorism effectively and not having enough security measure in place to have even halfway decent actionable intelligence. And with politicians becoming Home Ministers simply because they are the least unacceptable to coalition partners in the government, merit has clearly gone and taken two running jumps into the coldest, deepest and muddiest parts of the Arabian Sea.

“When we operate in the Kashmir valley, clearing a house that has terrorists in it takes us four to five hours. Here we were talking about massive hotels. Even with the National Security Guards (NSG) and Marine Commandos (Marcos) conducting the operation it takes time. And the hostage issue complicates matters.”

Reports of piracy are suppressed because shipping companies would not like this route to be perceived to be too dangerous as this would drive up their insurance costs and force them to either go around the Cape of Good Hope or cross the Pacific Ocean as well as cause them problems in recruiting crews and shipping companies put their own ships at risk by refusing to be escorted by international naval ships in convoys because of additional costs and delays.